Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia

The Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia (CIDRZ) is a Zambian non-profit organization established in 2001 with an annual budget of ~$35,000,000. Our 702 employees support services in 378 sites in 25 districts across four provinces: Lusaka, Eastern, Western, and Southern. CIDRZ has been a long standing partner with Ministry of Health (MOH), Ministry of Community Development, Mother and Child Health (MCDMCH), and the Ministry of Home Affairs. Furthermore, CIDRZ participates in National Technical Working Groups (EmONC, ENC, HIV/AIDS, WASH, MDGi, Social Mobilization and Service Delivery) and serves on the faculty of the UNZA School of Medicine.

Its activities include support of clinical and laboratory services in the public sector, conduct of biomedical research, health system strengthening, training in public health programming, and provision of clinical care. Flagship CIDRZ programs include capacity building and mentorship in programs such as PMTCT, adult and pediatric HIV treatment, health systems strengthening in MNCH, cervical cancer screening and treatment, TB prevention, diagnosis and treatment, and essential primary health care.

Additionally, CIDRZ collaborates with the University of Alabama at Birmingham and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill that have eight faculty based full-time at CIDRZ, including US Board Certified OB/GYN and Pediatrician who hold high-level leadership positions within the organization. We have worked closely with CDC in the areas of service implementation, operations research, and electronic medical record development. Other collaborators include: UTH, UNZA, EGPAF, USAID, WHO, UNICEF, JHPIEGO, Vanderbilt University, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Additional donors include NIH, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Absolute Return for Kids (ARK) and others.

What we do

Throughout the years, CIDRZ has partnered with Provincial and District Health Management teams, CDC, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, ELMA Foundation, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, and others conducting research studies and implementing programs in health system strengthening including Better Health Outcomes Through Mentoring and Assessment (BHOMA), Accelerating Maternal Care Access Initiative (AMAI/SMGL), and Preterm Resources, Education, and Effective Management for Infants (PREEMI) that aim to (1) improve the quality of care in health facilities, (2) increase demand for maternal and newborn health services, and (3) reduce maternal and neonatal mortality.

With over 10 years experience in designing, implementing, and evaluating complex and multi-national clinical trials and programs of similar scale, combined with the technical expertise of our consortium we believe we will succeed in providing the selected districts and staff with the required tools, technical skills, supplies, and routine mentorship required for realizing the set goals.